Susiganesan and vikram made us wait . two long years .. just can understand the amount of work that would have gone in making the film..
The audio release thereafter where in the director adopts villages increased the hype and anxiety to see what he is upto..
Susiganesen certainly after the success he got with thirutupaiyle was carrying immense responsibities on his shoulders to deliver and Vikram I almost forgot that he had a release called beema inbetween.. Two great guns with a wonderful producer in Dhanu .. obviously the audience waiting for a much awaited film .. but has Kanthasamy delivered...?
Time and again Superheroism through Robin Hood based subjects have been well recieved by the audience and so probably susiganesan should have felt lets exaggerate the same a bit...and see how the audience respond... exactly... one feels the magic missing what that the gentleman or the anniyan created .. even sivaji was a shocker but for the superstar carrying it forward the movie on his shoulders and now Vikram how is he going to recreate the magic he created as arusamy in samy ...
Plot : People in a smallTemple village in the outskirts of chennai discover that whatever wish they write in a piece of paper and tie it on a wish tree gets fullfilled.. loads of cash gets delivered at there backyards and then soon the fleet of pilgrims to the temple village grows.. so is the list of wishes ..
In the meanwhile cbi officer Kanthasamy played by vikram is busy raiding big shots in the town and much to everyones surprise seizes loads of money from each raids.. Kanthasamy and his childhood friends numbering eleven run a secret hideout where all the wishes are collected and the all the money seized and unaccounted with the Government is packed and distrubuted based on needs of each wish.
Wish I could have asked for a crore as well.. Kanthasamy and gang decide to utilise the religious belief that the people of the village who believe thats its the Lord kanthasamy who has been fulfilling there wishes ... aptly to execute and implement there plans..Later we come to know the entire team at cbi office including the director is involved .. kudos susiganesan... However in the meanwhile the local DIG played by Prabhu has other ideas and is in the lookout for the person who has been fullfilling all these peoples wishes much against the peoples beliefs.. thats not all
Kanthasamy wins the enemity of shriya saran ?( subbulakshmi )who seeks revenge not knowing that her dad is acting( paralytic) goes all out behind vikram trying to put him in some kind of trouble.. to sack him...
How long is kanthasamy successful to fulfill all the wishes .. whether shriya is successful in taking revenge .. whether Prabhu is able to catch Kanthasamy redhanded to prove a point to the people is what the balance story of kanthasamy is...
Vikram is handome and at his best as kanthasamy .. but then when he disguises as the flying terrorising superhen act ..trying to save people or take on the the bad people is interesting yet a kind of fantasy which never appeals as a batman or superman should.. shriya saran is ravishing but her hairstyles and her presence is more for glamour than anything worth mentioning about.. Its Vikram all the way though ashish vidhyarthi as Shriyas dad .. Prabhu and the rest of the cast render a decent performance...
Songs by Devishree prasad is just above average, foot tapping though .. however"allegra" is well picturised and the best of the lot.. Vikram has made his debut as a singer and does a fair job..
The script has so much of logic struck weak links but then being a fantasy fair no one expects logic to take the front seat in such movies..
Vadivelus presence brings relief though its clear the director should have felt the compelling need for the addition to market the movie than anythg else.. some points worth mentioning would be the fear that kanthasamy tries to create in the minds of comedy actors charlie and damu trying to fulfill the wish of an aishwayra on the rooftop of there house is funny.. locales of mexico is stunning.. however I wonder why vikram has to be taken to such a remote place to be executed.. Alex as the broker in mexico looks more of a comedian than a powerful villain with all those ravishing trucks and black commandoes.. Portions where both vikram and shriya try to cheat each other and then when vikram wants to find out the secret answers about her father to transfer funds to his account is the only twist the film has to offer.
Negatives :
The reason behind the school group of friends who growup to become officers holding posts in all important departments to locate the corrupt and rich people is very weak. Vikram who sells pizzas becomes a cbi officer cum robinhood because a friends hands is amputated is too weak to really motivate someone to become so focussed as he is though I agree with the point that all criminal backing needs surplus money ..
The portions where Kanthasamy is arrested by ppp’s men ( asish vidhyarthi) and the great cbi officer is taken into a trap set by shriya and her dad and revealing his trtuth to them is kind of a weak link ..
The directors plan was however to identify an issue of the rich who store all there surplus money in all those international banks even not knowing the secret codes to withdraw money to rather invest in development and adopt villages to help use the funds to eliminate poverty is diluted with the all the commerical elements of superheroism which kanthasamy isnt ..
The second villian who spends travelling around in the luxury bus than his car .. exploiting girls and then decides to dance with Mumaith khan spending 30 lakhs ...
Kanthasamy in itself poses a challenge to keep the trust of the people in God but then when the people realise that its no God but one among them doing where do they dig for answers.. overall susiganesan has made a valliant attempt to follow the legacy of directors like Shankar but then he still has some way to go .. Kanthasamy is one of those commerical masala entertainers which doesnt render an impact to make people think.. sadly susi ganesan missed the trick...somewhere.. with the script ..better luck next time sir...
Positives :
Vikram is brilliant overcoming all inhibitions when he puts on the hen mask.. so is the aishwarya rai scene. Portions when Shriya walks into his cabin and the counter questions he gives for every question shriya asks is kind of different and interesting.. Vikram looks cool as a cbi officer ...Art and photography are technically brilliant but there is a huge scope for improvement ..
verdict :
watch the movie once for the sheer breathe taking locales shot in mexico and the handsome vikram and the glamourous shriya ..Susi ganesan has definitely crossed his own limits he may have not have been the class of shankar with regards to creating the magic with megabudget scripts but then the attempt is definitely worth seeing..Go to the movie with no expectations not more than a normal entertainment film perhaps you would save some dissappointments